The present invention relates to a tool holder, in particular to a fast exchange chuck.
Tool holders of the above mentioned general type are known in the art. One of such tool holders is disclosed for example in the German document DE-39 02 559 A1. In this tool holder at least one drive body is arranged in a spherical guiding sleeve and guided in a longitudinal direction to its position, while the spherical guiding sleeve is received and guided on the one hand in a precisely determined ring chamber between the head of the receptacle and the housing. Therefore during a relative movement between the head and the housing the spherical guiding sleeve with its balls can roll along the contact surfaces of the head and the housing. Thereby the at least one drive head, in particular a drive sphere, is held during its relative displacement in its position and can roll between them. Such a spherical guiding sleeve is a relatively expensive structural element. Disadvantageous in this construction is also the fact that the outer surfaces of the housing and the inner surface of the head of the receptacle which surrounds the housing with a distance and on which the spheres of the spherical guiding sleeves roll must be produced very precisely and must be exactly coordinated with one another. This requires an expensive machining. It has been also recognized that the dirt which penetrates in the ring chamber and can act on the spherical guiding sleeve can lead fast to difficulties or complete clamping in the region of the spherical guiding sleeves between the head of the receptacle on the one hand and the housing on the other hand. The spherical guiding sleeve with its concept is therefore not always disturbance free and during its operation is susceptible to dirtying.